What did scribes do?

Answer 1

There was no such thing as "free time" in ancient Egypt. You did your job from sunrise to sunset, excluding meals, and you slept from sunset to sunrise.

Answer 2

They would document patterns, keep records for kings and priests and also help them predict the future.
A scribe was a monk or other Churchman who showed a talent for neat handwriting (which is exactly what the word "manuscript" means) or for decorating capitals with figures, animals and foliage.

Scribes used many materials, all made by hand. The writing surface was not paper but the skins of sheep, goats or calfs (producing parchment or vellum), carefully cleaned, scraped, washed and thinned repeatedly and then rubbed with a mixture of chalk, cuttlebone and pumice to smooth and whiten it - this was a lengthy process normally done by professional parchmenters.

From the 12th century onwards writing and drawing was done with a quill pen made from a goose feather, with squirrel-hair brushes used for filling in areas of colour. Pens had to be constantly re-cut as work progressed using a pen-knife.

Ink was produced from oak galls, iron and water, with some form of adhesive added such as gum Arabic. Paints were made from mainly plant and mineral pigments, many of them extremely toxic:

• white was often made from white lead, which can kill a human if breathed in, absorbed through the skin or ingested.
• a bright orange-red called vermilion was produced by heating Mercury and sulphur together until a vapour was given off - this vapour is extremely dangerous but it was allowed to condense on a cold surface and the bright red powder was collected.
• green came from malachite
• yellow was yellow ochre
• blue came from the seeds of the turnsole plant, from azurite or (the most costly) from ultramarine imported from Afghanistan.
• black was either carbon black from charcoal or soot, or the same ink that was used for the text.

A lead plummet was used to mark out the margins of the pages and to rule lines for the text; by pushing a sharp needle-like instrument through several sheets at once they could then all be ruled in exactly the same way.

Pages had to be handled while being ruled, resulting in the transfer of oils and grease from the hands; this was removed by rubbing "pounce" over the surface. Pounce was the same mixture of cuttlebone and pummice used in the preparation of the parchment or vellum.

Then the pages were carefully planned to make best use of the available writing surface; this was a complex operation, taking into account that the reverse side was to be written on, that each sheet was folded in the middle (producing 4 pages of writing) and that 4 or 5 folded sheets would be stacked together and folded before being sewn together. This meant that on a singlefolded sheet the first two sides might be pages 1 and 2, but the other two sides might be pages 11 and 12.

Then, at last, the scribe could start to write. He must concentrate 100%, there must be absolutely no distractions and he must not speak to anyone else. Making a mistake was not only difficult to correct, but it was also considered a sin which must be confessed. The only breaks would be to attend the 8 services each 24 hours and to attend the refectory for meals.

At the very end of a long book or document some scribes could not help but write a tiny comment in Latin: one wrote "Thank goodness that is over - now I can have a drink!"
A scribe worked for the goverment and the temples.They kept records and accounts for the state.Scribes also wrote and copied religous and literary texts,including stories and mossback's they were so respected,scribes did not have to pay taxes, and many became wealthy.

Scribes are trained writers. It is a professional class in societies where literacy is not the rule.
A scribe is a person who reads and writes. Back then, not everybody could read and write. Scribes also kept dates and records. They usually wrote on clay tablets, using wooden styluses. Scribes were really important, and treated with great respect.

Answer 3

They wrote in tombs for the deceased.

• building supplies
• tools/craft men's essentials
• work attendance
• wages earned
• number of bags of grain harvested
• size of the herds
• amount's of grain/materials issued from the storage
• types and quantity's of objects manufactured
• kinds/quantity's of seized goods
• body parts cut from the bodies of fallen enemies
• inventories of funerary gifts for the dead
• daily offerings/sacrifices
• These were form funerary priests to honor the dead
• they recorded in writing the everyday life
• extraordinary happenings on ancient Egypt
• they wrote letters for fellow villagers that couldn't write
• calculated the amounts of food needed to feed the tomb workers
• kept accounts
• ordered supplies for the temples and for Egyptian army's

Answer 4

The position of scribe in ancient Egypt had a range of job options. A scribe manage records, accounts and estates, or written up contracts, wills and letters, as well as read letters to people. They have also been in charge of figuring out food requirements for workers, ordering supplies and collecting taxes. Scribes also record historical events.

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Answer 5

Scribes are trained writers. It is a professional class in societies where literacy is not the rule.

Answer 6

Scribes wrote down and recorded information for later generations.

Answer 7

A scribe is a person who makes a written record for someone else.

Answer 8

ancient scribes recorded what the pharaohs did and want happened in that time...

Answer 9

To write (record) transactions and the like.

Answer 10

Building intercontinental missiles.